My Heart Burns
by OwlishArgento
Summary: Severus Snape has been discovered as a spy. His private supply of potions has been raided, among them the most dangerous potions of all. Love. The Dark Lord has a plan to hit two birds with one stone by going through a special medium. Hermione Granger.
1. Mein Herz Brennt

My Heart Burns

_"Now, dear children, pay attention_

_I am the voice from the pillow_

_I have brought you something_

_I ripped it from my chest"_

- Rammstein "Mein Herz Brennt"

"Well, well the domain of Severus Snape" he drawled into the empty laboratory "I do hope we don't uncover anything too awful, do we gentlemen?"

The room was situated in the dungeon of Cadre Fortress, the imposing headquarters of the Dark Lord Voldemort and his group of loyal Death Eaters. "Well mostly loyal anyway" sneered Lucius mentally

Severus Snape had been the main potions producer for the Dark Lord since he had joined those many years ago. More recently, Snape had become the eyes and ears of the Dark Lord at Hogwarts, where he had kept a close eye on the comings and goings of Albus Dumbledore and, of course, Harry Potter.

However, after one too many important moves were halted by the timely appearance of the Order, Voldemort's earlier suspicions of Snape's loyalty were most definitely confirmed. When the Order had successfully rescued Snape from the old Riddle house, Voldemort and his closest followers fled to their secure fortress in the Mourne Mountains, far away from Hogwarts and England at least in Northern Ireland they had relieved some pressure. After Snape had gone Voldemort angrily demanded that the entire inventory of potions be examined.

Lucius Malfoy peered cautiously into a vial of what had been labelled Veritaserum. So far, they had discovered that most of the potions had been heavily diluted or were merely completely different, less dangerous, potions. Sneering in disgust, Lucius began the tedious task of breaking through the wards Snape had erected around some of the more derelict areas of the lab.

One, particularly heavily warded, area had contained a large supply of, what Lucius would call, Sexual Potions. Some of the most dangerous had been Eternal Love, Obsessive Lust, acidified lubrication salve and a curiously half empty bottle of Fantasia Potion. This particular potion was especially nasty as it had the effect of trapping people in their minds with their greatest sexual fantasies. It made them especially easy to extract information from and it had the side effect of being highly addictive as many people would rather chose to live in a life of fantasy rather than the bitter reality. Lucius smiled mirthlessly as the implications of a half-empty bottle dawned on him. Severus Snape was addicted to his fantasy.

"Oh Severus" he smirked "You have been a naughty boy"

* * *

"Hermione wake up!" a vaguely familiar voice echoed loudly in her head "Hermione quickly! You have to wake up!"

Her eyes opened quickly to the concerned face of her friend Ron who was bouncing on one foot looking highly nervous

"Ron?!" she croaked sleepily "What's going on? Why are you in my room?"

"You've fallen asleep in the common room again Hermione!" he sighed exasperatedly "But listen, what did you get Harry for Christmas? I really can't think of anything!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. He had woken her up for that? Hermione had been patrolling the corridors of Hogwarts late into the night as the new security precautions meant that all teachers and prefects would need to be extra vigilant. Hermione had been slightly dismayed to find she would be on the twilight patrol with Snape while everyone else would be enjoying sleep.

"I don't know Ron" she spoke evenly after a moment "Why don't you ask me in a month?"

"But it's November! You always have everyone's presents bought by this time!" It was true, usually she would have had everyone's presents organised by mid-November in an attempt to avoid the rush at Christmas. However, this year she had been overwhelmed by everything including prefect duties, school work and Harry duties.

Harry had been under constant monitoring after coming back without saying much about what had happened in June at the Department of Mysteries that involved him losing the closest person he had to a father. Ron and Hermione were distraught to find him so closed up about what had happened but agreed not to pressure him into talking about it if he didn't want to; they just kept an especially close eye on him to be there to support him if he ever did crack.

"Sorry Ron… it's just everything is just so much now" she explained, pushing a particularly irritating stand of bush hair from her face. "I just hope that everything will get much better soon"

"Me too, Hermione" Ron put a strong arm around her, pulling her into a hug "Me too"

"I'm going to bed Ron" she yawned widely "Wake me up again and I'll poke you to death with a toothpick"

He grinned cheekily at her and mock saluted. "Yes milady. Duly noted."

She swatted his arm and made her way to the 6th year girl's dormitories.

* * *

"My Lord" Lucius bowed deeply "I have the potions from the dungeons"

"Very well Lucius" Voldemort replied "What is your report?"

"It seems that the only potions Snape had been making correctly were the ones he could use for sexual gain. Among them were Obsessive Lust and a small dose of Fantasia. I can only conclude that he has been using Fantasia on himself but I can not fathom why he has brewed so many of the other love potions." He paused "It seems out of character for Severus Snape, my lord"

"Yes it does" Voldemort acknowledged with a tilt of his head "Leave the potions and go Lucius"

"Yes, my Lord"

Voldemort stared at the potions sitting in front of him for a long time.


	2. Highway to Hell

Chapter 2

"Merry Christmas, Harry" Hermione smiled brilliantly at her dark haired friend. Harry stared at her slightly and replied with his own Christmas greeting.

Harry had become more of a recluse as the last month had passed. He spoke only when spoken to and even then his answers were mostly monosyllables or rare soft smiles. It broke Hermione's heart knowing that he did not love her enough to confide some of his pain and that there was nothing she could do to make him.

"Did you get anything interesting, Harry?" she questioned softly

"No" he replied shortly, looking through the window and staring at something Hermione couldn't see or didn't exist. She stared at him for a long time before giving him a quick hug and retreating to her room.

Her eyes quickly filled with silent tears as they did every time Harry spoke to her, or didn't speak to her. She was meant to be his best friend and yet she couldn't help him past his grief. She wiped away the invading tears with the back of her hand and focused on the presents.

"_A book from Ron" she_ thought glumly _"All the years of knowing me and his bright idea of a Christmas present is another book? Nothing from Harry, I wonder if he even knows its Christmas. Oh a Weasley Christmas package, how lovely! Oh brilliant! A year's subscription to "Muggle/Wizard Inventions" from mum and dad!"_

Hermione gathered her gifts up and began to put them away neatly around her room. A large owl suddenly flew into the dormitory from an open window and landed gracefully on the edge of Hermione's bed.

"Oh hello" she gave the bird a quick pat "What have you got here?" The owl extended its leg and Hermione untied the piece of parchment attached. The large bird took flight, leaving Hermione staring bewilderedly at the parchment.

Hermione quickly removed the black ribbon from the curiously pale parchment and started when it changed from a parchment into a beautiful white rose.

Hermione smiled at sniffed the sweet aroma of the rose. She dropped it suddenly when it appeared to burst into, what appeared to be, black flames. Hermione stumbled to the floor of the dormitory, as if overcome by a force pushing her to the ground. Groaning, she reached for her wand "_I've been cursed!" _her mind screamed "_I need to tell someone!"_

Then everything was quiet as Hermione quickly lost consciousness.

* * *

"It is done" Voldemort sneered as a replica parchment burnt "She has been dosed heavily with the potion our friend Severus was ever so kind to produce"

"My Lord" murmured a quiet voice from the opposite side of the room "Why did you choose her?"

"Why did I choose her, Wormtail?" Voldemort hissed "She is a friend of Potters and a student of Severus'. The perfect choice for our weapon, don't you agree?"

"Yes master, of course" The servant, Wormtail, retreated to his corner

"Tonight our plan shall begin. Tonight I will travel into the heart of the girl and corrupt her against everything she would die for. Tomorrow, Hermione Granger will be mine and the fall of Hogwarts will be my legacy"

The Death Eaters known as the Inner Sanctum made an excited murmur at their Master's speech and left the room in a flurry of cloaks.

Voldemort watched their retreating backs with a scowl.

* * *

"What does he think he's doing?" Dolohov exclaimed once the silencing charms had been cast "This plan is doomed to failure!"

"But our Lord will not listen to us" Lucius replied quietly, pouring himself a fine brandy. A luxury that could only be fully savoured once you had been in Azkaban. And had narrowly escaped with the aid of some puppets.

"Why do you say the plan is doomed to failure, Antonin?" Bellatrix questioned dangerously "I see nothing wrong with it"

"Well maybe that is because you are crazy Bellatrix!" Dolohov screamed loudly at the woman "He's looking for another whore and is jeopardising our survival on his sex life!"

"That is a gross exaggeration" Lucius replied smoothly, arching his aristocratic eyebrows at the Russian man

"He does not want another whore" Bellatrix purred at the man "I'm whore enough for any man, Dark Lord or not"

Lucius turned to glance at his sister-in-law. She had been convinced that she had been Voldemort's concubine at one point. Voldemort had first been disgusted but now began to play along with her fantasies as she became more unhinged. Lucius had a suspicion that the Dark Lord was really flattered with the opinion and did not want to discourage one of his most ruthless weapons.

"And what does your husband think of all this?" Lucius smirked "Surely you haven't forgotten that you are a married woman?"

"But Lucius" she purred delightfully "I would rather have my husband be with me rather than another man"

"Enough arguing all ready!" Dolohov shouted in exasperation "Wormtail, what do you know of this girl?"

"She's very s-smart" he stuttered "S-She doesn't seem to follow the usual pattern for t-teenage girls. There might be a problem if our Lord is not c-clever enough to break through."

"Is she the one I hit in June?" Dolohov questioned "Tall, slim, bushy brown hair, brown eyes and throwing herself in front of anything she couldn't charm away?"

"That sounds like her A-Antonin"

"Excellent. I find I have more faith in our Master's plan"


	3. Kiss from a Rose

Chapter Three

"_Oh God what happened?" Hermione stared wildly around the black room. "How on earth did I get here?"_

_The room didn't reply. Hermione stood up and began to walk around her surroundings just for the hope that there was an exit concealed. After walking in a straight line for fifteen minutes she had came to the disheartening conclusion that this was not so much a room than an area of colour._

"_What are you doing here?" A distinctly masculine voice echoed throughout the area _

"_Help me!" She ran to the direction of the sound "I've just woken up and I've got no idea how I got here!!"_

"_Got here?" a hint of a sneer "We're at the Magical Gardens, just south of Glasgow. You are a witch aren't you?"_

"_Yes I am a witch!" she snapped angrily "If I am at the Magical Gardens then why can't I see any plants?"_

"_Do open your eyes" the voice was more amused _

_Hermione opened her eyes quickly to find herself on her back in the middle of a rose garden staring up at…_

"_Harry!" she exclaimed "What are we doing here?"_

_The man rolled his eyes. "I am not a Harry! I have never been a Harry! I will never be a Harry!" he folded his arms defensively "Why does everyone call me Harry!"_

"_Oh I'm sorry" she apologised "It's just you look so much like my friend Harry and I'm sorry. What is your name?"_

"_I'm Tom" he extended a hand with a cheeky grin. She took his hand and shook it "I'm Hermione"_

"_Hermione?" he mouthed "God your parents must have hated you"_

_She bristled at his comment and he laughed._

"_Sorry, sorry" he reassured her grinning "I'm joking, I haven't spoken to anyone in a while and to meet such a pretty girl it was a real slap in the face"_

"_Would you like a slap in the face?" she gave him a wry grin "These hands were made for slapping"_

_Laughing, he pulled her to her feet "Come on Hermione! Let's go for a romantic walk around the gardens and after we can go to a café and have a quiet discussion. Isn't that your perfect day?"_

_She nodded absently. He put his arm around her gently and pulled her around the gardens._

_

* * *

_

"It's working" Voldemort sneered to no-one in particular "The Obsessive Lust has made her highly suggestible and open for my particular influence"

The Death Eaters in attendance smiled behind their masks. Hogwarts would be theirs soon.

* * *

"Hermione" Lavender opened the door to the girl's dormitory "Where have you been all day?" Lavender walked over to Hermione's bed when there was no response.

Her eyes suddenly snapped down to the ground where the immobile Hermione slept. Lavender quickly sprinted down the stairs to the common room

"Everybody!" she breathed hysterically "Hermione is dead! She's not moving in the dorm!"

Ron gave a primal scream and dashed quickly to the dormitory after Lavender. His blue eyes darted wildly around the room until he saw the figure of his friend beside her bed.

"Hermione" he roared, crossing the room in a few easy steps "Hermione wake up!"

"Out of the way Weasley!" the Scottish burr of Professor McGonagall

"But she's my friend" he sobbed incoherently "She cant be dead, Professor!"

Professor McGonagall clucked disapprovingly at Ron. "She's not dead Mr Weasley" her voice softened "She is unconscious. We need to get her to the hospital wing

"Hermione" he stroked his cheek gently "You have to wake up"

Ron closed his eyes for a moment and met Harry's eyes. Harry was standing in the doorway staring at Hermione in horror. Ron coughed back the lump that had been forming at the back of his throat. Harry stumbled toward him and curled into a foetal position beside Hermione. Carefully, Ron put his hand onto Hermione's and his arm to support Harry.

"I'm so sorry Ron" Harry sobbed uncontrollably "I didn't want to let any more of the people I love get hurt"

"There, there mate" Ron soothed "We understand but you know we'll get hurt anyway because we love you, you bloody great Wally"

Harry and Ron sat on the floor, comforting each other, long after McGonagall had cleared out the dormitory and taken Hermione for observation.


	4. Wicked Game

Chapter four

"_The world was on fire, no-one could save me but you  
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do  
I'd never dreamed that I'd need somebody like you  
And I'd never dreamed that I'd need somebody like you"_

--Wicked Game

"_So tell me Hermione" he smiled across the table "How did you like our day?"_

"_I liked our day a lot Tom" she returned his smile "We should do it again sometime"_

"_And we most definitely will" _

_Hermione had just spent the most wonderful day of her life so far with someone she had just met. When she voiced this observation he had laughed and changed the subject. She wasn't going to push him too far; after all… he was a stranger.  
_

_They had walked around the beautiful Magic Gardens talking about everything they had known and some things they didn't know too much about. Hermione was astounded to find he was as knowledgeable as her and immediately lapped up the unique opportunity to discuss important ideas she had with someone who would disagree with her for intellectual reasons. _

"_Tom what do you think about the rights of House Elves?" she asked sweetly  
_

"_I don't care a fig for House Elves, Hermione" he replied, taking a swig of coffee "I never had them and, frankly, I would never want them. I prefer human servants"_

_Hermione had laughed at that comment but something about it did not ring well with her. _

"_Tom?" she paused "Tell me a little about yourself, we've been talking about me all day and I don't think I know much about you"_

"_So curious, little rose" he arched an eyebrow "But I will consent this time. I was brought up in a Muggle Orphanage, I went to Hogwarts and I left. Is that enough for you?"_

"_What house were you in at Hogwarts?"_

"_Slytherin, of course" Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach_

"_What year were you born, Tom" _

"_1927" he smiled innocently "Exercise and eat right, and in fifty years time you'll look like me"_

"_Are you Lord Voldemort, Tom?" _

"_Yes. I am Lord Voldemort" he laughed coldly "When did you figure it out?"_

"_A while ago" she replied softly "I just wanted to see what you were after"_

_He gave a sigh of relief "Finally I can stop being Mr Perfect and get down to business"_

_Hermione started "Business?" she squeaked "What kind of business?"_

"_Come with me" he stood and offered his hand "We're going to Hogwarts"_

_She accepted his outstretched hand and followed him out of the Café._

* * *

"You were right about Miss Granger, Wormtail" Voldemort sneered at his bumbling servant "She is highly intelligent"

Wormtail gave a barky, nervous laugh and returned to his duties

"Foolish girl" Voldemort murmured, almost fondly "She will not be clever enough to take on Lord Voldemort"

* * *

"_Tom?" Hermione whispered "How did we get to Hogwarts?"_

"_We walked" he replied shortly "Be quiet. We need to get in quietly"_

"_I'm helping Voldemort break into Hogwarts!" Hermione giggled hysterically "If only Harry and Ron could see this"_

"_They can" He pulled her through a hole in the wards "We're going to see them"_

"_Oh" she stared at Tom "Why?"_

"_Wait and see, little owlet" he whispered seductively "Wait and see"_

_They walked to Gryffindor tower in silence, thankfully not running into anyone. The portrait was all ready open and he helped her into the common room._

"_Hello Hermione" Ron called from the chessboard by the fire_

"_Hermione" Harry nodded and returned to the game. Hermione noted with amusement that Harry seemed to be winning for a change._

"_Who have you got with you Hermione?" Ron asked, his eyes never leaving the chessboard. _

"_His name is Tom Riddle, Ron" Harry replied coolly "He's really Voldemort"_

_Ron didn't shudder like he usually does when he hears the name of the Dark Lord, Hermione noted with confusion. "Is he really? How unusual"_

_Hermione restrained herself from tipping the chessboard and attaching a neon sign to the head of her new companion._

"_Does he have a big snake Hermione?" Ron asked with a straight face _

"_Yes I think so." She paused "Ron! You were being rude!" she exclaimed loudly to their teenage boy chuckles. She spun around to see Tom's reaction to Ron's typical rudeness and was surprised to not find him._

"_What's wrong Hermione?" Harry asked nastily "Has your boyfriend gone away?"_

"_He's not my boyfriend Harry" she replied evenly "He's evil"_

"_Oh of course he is" Ron winked at Harry, who smirked "He's evil" he concluded in falsetto_

"_Why are you being so rude to me today?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in desperation and storming out of the common room_

"_Honestly, that girl needs to sort herself out" Ron remarked at her departure. Harry grunted in the affirmative._

* * *

_The castle was eerily dark and quiet for a school. Hermione gulped involuntarily as she wandered around looking for Tom. She didn't know why she was actively looking for the quasi-mini-evil-Lord-Voldemort except he brought her here and then disappeared; leaving her to face the people she had called her friends._

_Hermione had been feeling the cold stab of loneliness for some time now as it seemed everyone but she had been growing up into adults whereas she had been left as mature as ever. Not that she would be considered immature, by any stretch of the imagination, but people like Ron and even Harry had changed into people where she had been left as someone who was obsessed with doing well in school. _

"_How depressing" Tom's voice echoed throughout the hallway "Why don't you see yourself as I see you?"_

_Hermione jumped "T-Tom? Where are you?"_

"_I'm over here Hermione" his voice answered from somewhere down the corridor "You didn't answer my question"_

_She squinted down the corridor and saw a light flickering in a room that she recognised as the Hogwarts Library. Her sanctuary. Cautiously, she opened the door with a creak and peered into the room._

_The library had been filled with candles to create a hazy beacon of light in the darkness of the school. The separate tables had been cleared away in favour for one large table in the middle of the library. Tom Riddle was seated on one of the two high-back mahogany chairs. The shadow and light created by the candles danced elegantly over his face and his eyes stared at her, so dark and intense, she gulped._

"_Please Hermione" he smiled "Take a seat. Everyone's been waiting for you"_

_She took a nervous step toward the second chair at the table. "But Tom" she paused "You're the only one"_

_He smiled, his hands playing with a glass of red wine "I suppose you're right" _

_He was wearing dress robes of such a dark shade of green they looked almost black. She was startled to find herself wearing a beautiful burgundy velvet dress robe._

"_Oh Tom" she felt the material "Thank you for the clothes"_

_He waved his hand delicately and gestured to the plate in front of her that was rapidly filling with her favourite foods. _

"_Where are we?" she asked "I know we're in Hogwarts Library but we're not in the real Hogwarts, are we?"_

_He smiled at her across the table "No we're not in Hogwarts any more Hermione" She nodded, urging him to continue "Now I think it's time we tell you what you're going to do for me"_

_The food suddenly vanished and the table changed to a more intimate circular table. Hermione stared at him with rapt attention._

"_Hermione" he began "After I finish telling you this the spell will be activated and you will never be the same again." He paused "You are in your ideal world and I am your ideal man. The potion you were dosed with was a potent mixture of Obsessive Love and Fantasia, and of course your usual magical stasis inducing potion. I have been shaping this world using Legimency. When you wake up you will be in love with me and you will do everything and anything I desire."_

_A hissing noise announced the arrival of the snake Nagini. Tom hissed to the snake and gestured to Hermione, the snake moved swiftly to where the girl was sitting and curled, almost docilely, beside her chair. _

"_That is Nagini" he nodded to the snake "You will use her to kill Harry Potter and Severus Snape"_

_Hermione's eyes widened with fear. She couldn't kill Harry! She would like to kill Professor Snape sometimes but she couldn't kill him! The snake hissed warningly at her._

"_I'm sorry, Hermione" Tom smiled "You have no choice in this matter. You do as I say"_

"_No I am a free person" she exclaimed indigently "I will not kill Harry or Professor Snape. I'd rather die myself"_

"_Hermione" he explained with the air of someone telling an excitable toddler that she could not see if Felix the Cat could swim "You don't understand. You have no free will. You will be a weapon. It doesn't matter if you want to do this or not, the fact is that you will do this"_

"_I will not!" she screamed, her eyes filling with tears "You can't do this to me! I'm a person" _

"_Well I certinatly didn't think you were a houseplant" he replied nastily, lifting his wand "Now I've had enough of this stupidity from you Hermione. It doesn't become you." _

"_Please Tom… no" the tears were falling from her eyes rapidly. She didn't want to lose herself and become a slave to Voldemort._

_He merely raised an eyebrow and initiated the spell. Her tears stopped falling and her eyes were blank. Hermione Granger had gone._

"_Now Hermione" he cooed at the shell "You're so much better without free will and that holier-than-thou attitude"_

_He placed a small kiss on her forehead as a mark of ownership. She smiled sweetly at him but her eyes remained empty._

"_Thank you Tom"_


	5. 1 Crush

Chapter 5

"_I will lie for you  
I can steal for you  
I will crawl on hands and knees until you see  
You're just like me _

Violate all my love that I'm missing  
Throw away all the pain that I'm living  
You will believe in me  
And I can never be ignored"

_- No.1 Crush_

Hermione woke to the concerned face of Madam Pomfrey. The mediwitch was bending over her muttering to herself about some disturbance or another, Hermione mused.

"Madam Pomfrey" she spoke, smiling "I am awake"

"Yes I know you're awake dear" the mediwitch patted her head affectionately. "You've been ready to wake up since you were brought in here"

"How long have I been here?" she asked curiously

The older witch nodded "You've been asleep for the last three days. You've friends have been very concerned" she clucked her tongue disapprovingly.

Hermione smiled politely "I'd quite like to see them again"

"You'll see them in the morning" the mediwitch handed her a potion wordlessly. Hermione looked quizzically at the potion and drowned it in one gulp "Goodnight"

The warm fuzziness of sleep began to settle in as Hermione rested her head gently on the soft pillows in her bed.

"I can't believe she's finally awake" an excited voice that was distinctly familiar. Ron, her mind mentally groaned. "It's only been three days but it's not like Hermione to just pass out like that"

"Shush Ron" A female voice scolded "You're going to wake her up!"

"I'm awake" Hermione finally spoke. Harry and Ron jumped and Ginny gave a delighted "Ron! I told you so!" Hermione gave a quiet chuckle.

"What happened to you?" Ron threw his arms around her in a delighted greeting "Don't pass out again!"

"I'll try not to Ron" she smiled blandly at her friend. Harry grinned at her and put his arms around her too, he felt her stiffen slightly underneath his weight.

He gave her a quizzical smile and she dismissed it with a nod of her head.

She sat quietly and allowed the friendly chatter to fill the ward.

* * *

She was discharged from the hospital later that day with the reassurance she would see Madam Pomfrey if she even felt so much as a quiver in her head.

She had gotten through the day by smiling and nodding at everyone's questions about what had happened. She knew that she couldn't stand talking to them for much longer as they were beneath her. They were a poor substitute for Tom and she was disgusted with herself for even being seen with them. The only plus side was that as soon as she had completed her task Tom would come and take her away and then could live together forever.

She managed to get to her dormitory without much questioning. Lavender and Parvarti were thankfully absent from the room and she sat down on the bed.

Tonight she would receive the aid in her quest, Nagini, in the form of a transfigured toothpick and tomorrow she will prepare her plans to get the serpent into Severus Snape's private rooms and then get her up to Harry without being caught.

A large owl flew into the dormitory carrying a letter, a cloak and a potion vial. She quickly ripped open the letter and scanned it eagerly.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I am ecstatic to learn that you have finally woken up after deep sleep. I hope you're feeling up to the challenge I have set you but I know that you, Hermione Granger, will always be up for a challenge, no matter your health. Contained in this package is Nagini, transformed into a toothpick, as previously stated, and a potion that will enable you to complete your tasks as quickly as possible. It is a modified form of fantasia and will increase your sex appeal to other men. Not myself of course, I think you are beautiful as you are right now. I cannot wait until you have completed your tasks and we can be together, at last._

_Yours forever and always,_

_Tom._

Hermione smiled widely and clutched the letter to her chest. She carefully sat the potion and the toothpick onto her bedside table and stared at the letter with an unconditionally blissful expression on her face.

"_Yours forever and always, Tom" _she whispered before falling asleep once more.

* * *

"It seems" Lucius smirked "that Miss Granger isn't as clever as she appears to be"

The Inner Sanctum were sprawled around their separate room discussing the progress of the latest plan. Bellatrix was humming softly from her chair, Antonin was drinking a glass of vodka and Wormtail was shifting nervously on his chair.

"Has the little whore taken the bait?" cooed Bellatrix "I thought she was meant to be against everything that we stand for?"

"Poor little girl has been trapped by her own hormones" Antonin purred insincerely

"Awww… what a tragedy" Lucius concluded with a grin


	6. Seducing Severus Snape

Chapter 6

"_Frankenstein and Dracula have nothing on you  
Jekyll and Hyde join the back of the queue  
The female of the species is more deadly than the male _

Oh she wants to conquer the world completely  
But first she'll conquer me discreetly  
The female of the species is more deadly than the male"

_The female of the species_

"Professor Snape I was wondering if I could possibly have a word?" Hermione asked him after a potions lesson. He had sneered in response but she had been so insistent that he eventually relented.

The class had pilled out leaving Hermione and the Potions Master alone. Hermione had taken the potion this morning and had the transfigured snake in her robe pocket. Tom had contacted her twice since the original letter and had provided her with the way to get Severus Snape.

"Miss Granger" he broke the silence "If you have a question do ask it tonight. I do have better things to do with my time than watch someone practising to compete in the guppy Olympics"

"I was just wondering, Professor" she bit her lip suggestively "If you would mind me coming down to the potions classroom tonight to work on a potions project of mine"

Snape stared at the girl curiously. It seemed that she was making a botched attempt to flirt with him. Her brown eyes flickered to meet his black ones and, he realised with a jolt, she was looking deliciously enchanting.

Snape found himself stuttering "Of course Miss Granger, be here for eight" to his immense surprise. Her lips curled up into what could be described as a smile and she stalked out of the classroom. As she walked, he found himself drawn to the rush of her robes over the stones.

Shaking himself he walked into his chambers and began to mark some homework.

Hermione smiled softly to herself as she walked aimlessly around the school. Tom would be thrilled to find she had already begun to entice the traitor into her bed. Or onto his desk, most likely.

Still smiling serenely, she walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Harry and Ron were all ready seated and making a valuable contribution to the noise levels in the hall.

"Hermione" Ron waved her over to her usual spot on the table "What took you so long?"

"Professor Snape gave me a detention at eight" she replied glumly "I hope it doesn't go on my permanent record" she had learnt that line from Tom

Ron shouted something about it being unfair which Harry agreed with vehemently. Hermione smiled blandly and dismissed their suggestions for complaining about Snape.

She could teach Snape a lesson herself.

Promptly at eight, Hermione gave a tentative knock to the door of the classroom.

"Come in" a grunt from behind the door. Hermione pushed open the door quickly and walked into the room.

Snape was standing beside his desk, wearing his usual robes of black. His hair was hanging lankly off his face and he gave her a curt greeting and a suggestion that she should be out of his way in an hour… or else.

"_Stupid little turncoat_" her mind sneered at the man "_He spends his adult life bullying little children and yet can not even grasp the concept of revenge."_

She gave him a bright smile and took a seat at one of the many free desks. She lifted out her potions equipment and began to work diligently at the potion she had been requested to brew. It was a simple enough potion to brew but the timing had to be correct which required enough concentration from Hermione.

"Professor Snape?" she asked half-way into the hour. His head jerked up from the work he was marking "I was wondering if you could help me with this last bit"

"No Miss Granger I cannot" he returned to his pile of papers "I am exceptionally busy and if it's something you can't brew then don't be brewing it"

"It's Fantasia Potion Professor" she had replied sweetly. He dropped his quill with a start. "I know you've made it before and I was wondering about the timing of adding the red apple pieces"

He quickly crossed the classroom to where she was sitting looking at him expectantly. His eyes burnt with fury as she smiled infuriatingly innocently at him.

"Why are you brewing that potion?" he roared "Don't you know it's illegal you foolish child?"

"Really, sir?" she continued to smile "It's just I know how much you love using this potion to fantasise about your students, Professor, I wanted to make you more as a present."

"How dare you!" he snarled angrily "You stupid little girl! Meddling in the Dark Arts I suppose? You're going to be expelled as soon as I get everyone to see what you really are!"

"Professor Snape" she cooed "No-one will ever see because you are not going to leave this room alive"

"And I'm going to be stopped by a little know-it-all who is meddling in things she has no idea about!?" he sneered, banging the desk in fury. "Get out of my way!"

"Traitors must die" she nodded simply "You hurt Tom and now you must die"

His eyes widened with recognition. The potions he had been brewing to sell in Knockturn Alley had been somehow given to this girl. "Miss Granger" he started softly "I am sorry"

"Oh Professor" she snarled "You are not sorry. You will be sorry when I've finished with you"

Raising her wand she cast a quick _Imperio_ on the teacher. He started to fight it but found himself helpless against the girl who had gained much more power than any witch her age should have. '_The Dark Lord'_ his mind snapped '_He's given her enough power to control me. How?_"

"Now Professor" she began in a lecturing tone "I'm going to teach you a lesson. Go and sit on your desk"

Fighting with all his strength he could not shake off the curse and found himself walking toward his desk. It was stacked with homework and a few quills lay scattered around.

Taking something from her pocket, Snape couldn't see what it was, she muttered a spell and at once a large snake appeared from thin air.

The snake swayed at Hermione and slithered quickly through an open grate in the potions dungeon. Hermione turned from the snake to face Snape. She put ran her hand absently through the immobile Snape's hair.

"I am sorry Severus" she muttered "You don't understand how much Tom hates you and as soon as our other guests arrive the party can start"

Snape's eyes were as blank as hers. Fifteen minutes past and a hissing noise announced the arrival of Nagini, followed quickly by the sound of school shoes hitting off the corridor.

Smiling she stepped over to the desk and whispered "Make love to me Professor". Snape immediately pressed his lips firmly onto the smiling Hermione and pushed her roughly down onto his desk.

Hermione gave a blood-curdling scream and shouted "Professor Snape!!!"

"GET OFF HER!" Ron bellowed loudly, running into the room and pulling the man off his, now hysterical, friend.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PLAYING AT, SNAPE?!?" Harry yelled at the Professor who was hastily rearranging his robes. "You sick, disgusting PAEDOPHILE!"

Harry gave a roar and punched Snape with enough force to knock him unconscious. Ron and Harry rushed over to Hermione who was sobbing hysterically

"He said he would rape me" she cried heavily into Ron's embrace "He said if I didn't go along with it he would tell everyone I seduced him"

Harry and Ron stared at their friend with sadness and carried her out of the room leaving an unconscious Snape and a hidden Nagini left.


	7. Heaven aint close in a place like this

Chapter 7

_"Cause heaven ain't close in a place like this  
I said heaven ain't close in a place like this  
Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight  
Never thought I'd let a rumour ruin my moonlight"_

_- "Somebody Told Me" The Killers_

"My Lord, what are your plans for the girl after she completes the task?" Lucius asked from the smaller chair beside, what had been dubbed, the throne.

Earlier there had been a full meeting of all of the Death Eaters present. Voldemort called for order and calmly announced that Severus Snape was dead. Silence met this statement and then the admiring applause filled the whole of Cadre Fortress. Voldemort savoured the applause and then dispatched his loyal servants to complete their own tasks.

Voldemort tilted his head pensively toward Lucius "I feel that this girl could be useful to us" He paused "She is a remarkable person Lucius; I find you'd appreciate her wit"

"Very good, my Lord" Lucius acknowledged with a tilt "Is it true that she can see everything she is doing but has no control over it?"

"Yes that is true" Voldemort's lips quirked into a small smile "She's trapped in her own mind but cannot influence anything her body does. It's highly amusing"

Lucius bowed his leave of Voldemort and retreated to the room of the Inner Sanctum.

Voldemort barely acknowleged him and began to stare, the smile still threatening to break out.

* * *

"I think you were right, Antonin" Lucius sat down into one of the comfortable chairs. "He appears to have developed something that looks like affection for the girl"

"Affection?" Antonin repeated "Can he feel affection, Bella?"

The woman scowled darkly at the man and pushed and irritating strand of her black hair from her face. Antonin smiled cruelly at Bellatrix and blew her a spiteful kiss.

"Antonin, please" Lucius waved his hand impatiently "We are adults here"

"Except for the little girl who has captured our Lord's heart" Antonin put a hand to his heart dramatically and pretended to swoon. "How old is she? Twelve?"

Bellatrix snarled furiously at the man and leapt from her chair. She clamped her hands securely around his neck and began to choke him. Wormtail stared at Lucius in alarm and then began to pry the woman's scarlet nails from the man's throat. Lucius gave a resigned sigh and with a quick spell, all three Death Eaters were separated.

"We cannot get any work done with you bickering all the time" he drawled, casually twirling the mahogany wand around his fingers "We are our Lord's most able and trusted servants, yet the mentality in this room is that of a muggle crèche?" He snorted and fixed an icy glare upon the members of the room. Bellatrix and Antonin gave each other ferocious glares before returning to their chairs. Lucius gave the room a final smile, one of a bemused teacher of the Gates of Hell.

"Severus Snape has been eliminated, Harry Potter faces his death unknowingly and our Lord may or may not be developing feelings for the newest pawn in our game. Your thoughts, children?"

* * *

He could hear her struggling against the restraint of her own body and every time he made himself known to her she assaulted him with a volley of curses that would make a Weasley blush.

He visited her regularly, to both check on the progress of his latest plan and to break the spirit of the girl once known as Hogwarts greatest mind. He knew her defences were weakening every day and soon the defiant light in her eye would be replaced with the dull acceptance of her physical counterpart.

The spell cast on the girl worked like a mixture of liquid Imperious and the potion of Dr Jekyll. It split her personality into the real Hermione and the Hermione that was controlled by Lord Voldemort like a marionette doll. The "real" Hermione was locked in a dark room, watching the performance with horror as she was unable to change or effect what the "other" Hermione had been doing. This particular trap was especially rewarding.

Soon, the lives of those she loved the most will be over by her own hand. Voldemort smiled in the cruel irony of the situation.


	8. Breaking up the Girl

Chapter 8

The italics are the "real" Hermione thoughts and the normal text is merely sections from the chapter "Seducing Severus Snape".

* * *

"Professor Snape I was wondering if I could possibly have a word?" Hermione asked him after a potions lesson. He had sneered in response but she had been so insistent that he eventually relented.

"_I can't believe this is happening to me!" Hermione sobbed. She had woken up to find the disturbing dream becoming a reality. She had been distraught to find herself in a dark room with only a hard chair and an old table to keep her company. "He was right" she cried "He told me this would happen but I didn't believe him" _

_She had been trying, in vain, to get the attention of someone who could tell the difference between the creepy, robot Hermione and the real thing. She had finally arrived at the conclusion that everyone thought she was still recovering from her "illness" which would, for some part, explain her erratic behaviour. _

"_Professor Snape" she whispered "It's a trick! Don't fall for it!" _

"I was just wondering, Professor" she bit her lip suggestively "If you would mind me coming down to the potions classroom tonight to work on a potions project of mine"

Snape stared at the girl curiously. It seemed that she was making a botched attempt to flirt with him. Her brown eyes flickered to meet his black ones and, he realised with a jolt, she was looking deliciously enchanting.

Snape found himself stuttering "Of course Miss Granger, be here for eight" to his immense surprise. Her lips curled up into what could be described as a smile and she stalked out of the classroom

"_Professor!" Hermione wailed desperately "Can't you tell the effects of a potion?" Hermione had been kicking and screaming for someone to hear her, even if it was Hogwarts' most loathed professor._

_The blackness, she quickly discovered, would have been more correctly described as an abyss that she seemed to be trapped in. A strange land where a part of her was in love with Lord Voldemort whilst the rest of the world didn't notice any difference. _

_She knew what would happen if this plan would succeed. Hermione Granger, supporter of freedom and equality for all, would murder both her teacher and her best friend in the name of the Beast she had chosen to fight._

_Hermione Granger would become the newest killer in an army of monsters._

_

* * *

_

Still smiling serenely, she walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Harry and Ron were all ready seated and making a valuable contribution to the noise levels in the hall.

"Hermione" Ron waved her over to her usual spot on the table "What took you so long?"

"Professor Snape gave me a detention at eight" she replied glumly "I hope it doesn't go on my permanent record" she had learnt that line from Tom

Ron shouted something about it being unfair which Harry agreed with vehemently. Hermione smiled blandly and dismissed their suggestions for complaining about Snape.

"_Please see me" she murmured desperately to the boys in front of her_

"_Why can't you tell me apart from the robot?" _

"_It's a strange situation, isn't it Hermione?" the Tom she had met peered over her shoulder to the spectacle in front. He stood casually, as if looking through someone's mind was an everyday occurrence. _

_Hermione jumped to her feet, snarling at the man. He merely smiled infuriatingly at her and took a seat on the hard, wooden chair provided. _

"_You complete and utter bastard" she screamed "You get me out of here now you stupid arsehole! I'm going to kill you with my bare hands!"_

_She leapt toward Tom who dismissed her with a sigh. Hermione seethed _

"_I'm sorry is my life not exciting enough for you Tommy-Boy?!?!" He smiled coldly in response "Get me out of here!!"_

"_No" he drawled matter-of-factly "You belong to me and I can chose when you leave. After you complete your tasks, I might consider letting you be you again but until then" he shrugged insincerely "Keep yourself occupied, Hermione"_

"_Thinking of ways to kill you? I can rhyme them off now" she sneered "My favourite is death by castration, appropriate no?"_

_A ghostly smile appeared on the cold lips of the man, he disappeared leaving a book entitled "So you want to be a Death Eater?" _

_Hermione stared at the book and began the slow process of ripping it into evenly shaped shreds of paper_

* * *

"Professor Snape" she cooed "No-one will ever see because you are not going to leave this room alive"

"And I'm going to be stopped by a little know-it-all who is meddling in things she has no idea about!?" he sneered, banging the desk in fury. "Get out of my way!"

"Traitors must die" she nodded simply "You hurt Tom and now you must die"

His eyes widened with recognition. The potions he had been brewing to sell in Knockturn Alley had been somehow given to this girl. "Miss Granger" he started softly "I am sorry"

"_Professor" she muttered, putting her hand to the image. He honestly looked sorry for a change; she smiled unguardedly at the man for the first time in her life. "I'm sorry too, Severus" she cried softly "I'm so sorry for what will happen to you"_

"Oh Professor" she snarled "You are not sorry. You will be sorry when I've finished with you"

Hermione gave a blood-curdling scream and shouted "Professor Snape!!!"

"GET OFF HER!" Ron bellowed loudly, running into the room and pulling the man off his, now hysterical, friend.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PLAYING AT, SNAPE?!?" Harry yelled at the Professor who was hastily rearranging his robes. "You sick, disgusting PAEDOPHILE!"

Harry gave a roar and punched Snape with enough force to knock him unconscious. Ron and Harry rushed over to Hermione who was sobbing hysterically

"He said he would rape me" she cried heavily into Ron's embrace "He said if I didn't go along with it he would tell everyone I seduced him"

Harry and Ron stared at their friend with sadness and carried her out of the room leaving an unconscious Snape and a hidden Nagini left.

"_Goodbye Professor, perhaps we'll meet again when all this is over. I hope you can forgive me"_


	9. The Blowers Daughter

Blowers Daughter

Chapter 9

"_And so it is  
Just like you said it would be  
Life goes easy on me  
Most of the time  
And so it is  
The shorter story  
No love, no glory  
No hero in her sky"_

_- Damien Rice "The Blowers Daughter"_

"What happened to her?" Madam Pomfrey demanded of the two boys who were physically supporting a wailing Hermione

"It was Snape" Harry snarled bitterly at the Matron "He raped her"

The older witch stared at the seething boys –no men, with shock and surprise. She ran a hand through her slightly dishevelled hair and immediately pulled Hermione into a motherly embrace. The girl collapsed wearily into her arms and sobbed softly on her shoulder.

"Severus?" she directed her question at a strangely quiet Ron "He sexually abused a student?"

"Well he verbally abuses us enough" Harry growled, his green eyes burning with anger "I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this"

Ron hadn't taken his eyes off Hermione since they arrived at the Infirmary. His hands were shaking in fury and his face was set resolutely. Ron took a step toward Hermione and put his hand gently on her back.

Hermione spun around from Madam Pomfrey's embrace, her cheeks wet with tears. Ron gave her a twisted smile that looked like a grimace.

"I'm going to kill him, Hermione" he murmured to himself more than the witch "I'm going to rip him apart with my bare hands. He will not get away with what he has done to you."

Hermione gave her friend a weak smile and he strode from the Infirmary, determined to kill Professor Severus Snape.

* * *

When Ron departed, Madam Pomfrey quickly informed Professor Dumbledore of the events of this evening. Dumbledore arrived mere seconds later and walked to the bed Hermione and Harry were currently sitting on.

Dumbledore gave Hermione a searching look; his normally twinkling eyes were blank. Harry stood and glared at the old man.

"Why was this monster allowed around children?" Dumbledore flinched at the anger in Harry's voice "You knew what he was, you knew what he had done and you still let him stay at Hogwarts. For all your wisdom, Sir, you really are the most ignorant wizard I have ever met"

"Harry Potter!" Pomfrey exclaimed, her tray of various jars clunking nosily "That was really uncalled for!"

"It's fine, Poppy" The wizened man gestured wearily at the nurse. He turned his gaze back to Harry "Mr Potter, do continue"

"He raped her, Professor" The anger had left his voice and had been replaced with a bitter tone "Look at her, she can barely control her shaking and tears. You have deceived us, Professor, we knew what he was and we didn't do anything because you said that he had learnt from his mistakes. Does a man who has learnt from his past do this to anyone?"

Harry put a protective arm around Hermione and stared deep into Dumbledore's eyes.

"Well Professor?" He asked of the older wizard "Do you have anything to say?"

"Harry, there is nothing I can say to make this right" Dumbledore turned his gaze to Hermione "I am sorry that this has happened to you. No woman should have to go through this. You have my genuine sympathy. I will speak with Severus to determine the course of action we will take"

"No-one blames you, Hermione" Dumbledore held her gaze steadily. She stared innocently at the Headmaster "We will need to hear Severus' testimony before anything can happen"

* * *

Ron's eyes were focused on the classroom they had just rescued Hermione from little thirty minutes before. He didn't know how he was going to extract Hermione's justice from Snape but he wasn't one for not trying.

The hurt and the fear in Hermione's eyes was the main driving factor for his desire to avenge her wrongs. It seemed un-natural, he had thought at the time, for Hermione to look so weak and dead. The usual spark of intelligence had gone.

What he didn't understand was Harry's reaction to the news. Harry seemed so angry yet did not follow him to the dungeons to defend Hermione. The possibility of Harry having some doubt of Hermione's story did cross his mind but he dismissed it as soon as it had entered.

The door of the classroom was wide open; Ron scanned the ground for the unconscious Snape.

"Where did he go?" Ron was immediately on guard with the knowledge that the sleeping beast was no longer asleep. Drawing his wand, Ron put his back to the wall and walked into the classroom.

The dark room was eerily quiet and displayed the mocking normality of a classroom. Hermione's potion had boiled over in its cauldron creating a thick red smoke that gave off the faint aroma of jasmine. Ron pulled the sleeve of his robe over his nose and mouth to stop himself from breathing in the pungent gas.

Coughing, he cast a quick bubblehead charm and relaxed marginally. The classroom was a mess, he thought grimly, Snape could have been hiding under any one of the overturned tables waiting to pounce on his next unfortunate victim.

"Snape" he yelled to the room "Where are you? I know you're in here!"

Although he could now breathe fresh air, the thick smoke restricted his visibility immensely. Ron pointed his wand at the merrily bubbling cauldron and cast a quick _scourgify_ to remove the potion and sent a quick jet of water to put out the flames. Having rid the room of the source of the smoke, he cast another charm to remove the smoke from the room.

With a flair for magic Ron had never thought himself capable of, he began to upturn the tables and chairs he couldn't remember seeing being on the ground when they had rescued Hermione.

When he walked to where Hermione had been working he found something strange. Her quill and parchment had been scattered messily around the table and on the floor.

Clutching a quill and a piece of parchment was the immobile body of Professor Severus Snape.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey had bustled Harry and Dumbledore out from the Infirmary and drew the turquoise curtains around Hermione's bed. She gave the girl a sympathetic look and ordered her to drink a vial of Dreamless sleep potion. Hermione gave her a weak smile and drank the potion.

_Feeling the alien force control her body relax into the rhythm of sleep, Hermione began to fight the chains of her mind. _

"_That is a very naughty thing to do, Miss Granger" an amused drawl from over her shoulder. Hermione tutted tartly and dismissed the voice she had grown to loathe more than humanely possible._

"_I thought it was Dreamless Sleep potion, Riddle" she snapped, her eyes darting throughout her prison "Shouldn't you be away somewhere taking over the world and plotting to kill Harry… again?"_

"_You do wound me with your words, Hermione" he said mockingly "I do hope you're not getting bored lounging around here all day"_

"_I can more wounding, Riddle" she hissed "Let me out"_

"_Or you'll do what?" his eyes were glittering with malice "Insult me a little more? Call me "the-man-who-let-the-boy-who-lived-live"? Draw a hideous scar on my forehead? Mimic everything I say in a sing-song voice? What can you do Hermione? You are trapped in your own mind, you pathetic little girl, you are under my control" _

"_You are under my control!" she mimicked in a high-pitched voice. She began walking like a zombie and wiggling her fingers threateningly at the scowling man. She narrowed her eyes and sneered "You can trap me in here for eternity but you will never control me"_

_She took a defiant step toward him "You can't even touch me" she sneered disgustedly at him and thrust her hand through his ethereal body. _

"_You aren't even real"_

"_In a castle a few hundred miles away, sits the man who controls me. If you were to try and put your hand through his body he would rip your fingernails from your fingers, nail by nail." Tom paused, his eyes were burning with passion "When you pricked your finger on the transfigured rose you shared your blood with him, and me. Sitting on his throne, he controls you by your own ignorance. I am Lord Voldemort, never forget that"_

"_I am Hermione Granger" her voice mocking "Never forget that"_

"_How long until you forget that?" he smiled coldly "They're coming soon to take the boy. I have just programmed your mind with the plans to get Potter and the ironic thing is that you can actually do nothing to help" He smiled to himself and brought his gaze to somewhere past Hermione "They're going to bring Hogwarts to the ground and from the rubble, like a phoenix, the new order shall rise to power. There will be a place for you in the future, Hermione, together we walk to victory."_

_The ferocity and power radiating from the man caused Hermione to gulp involuntarily. _

"_Get some rest, Hermione" his smile not changing the passion of his eyes "It will be a very busy day tomorrow"_

_

* * *

_

"MADAM POMFREY! PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!" Ron roared from the corridor breathlessly "IT'S SNAPE! SNAPE IS DEAD! HE'S DEAD!"

"WEASLEY!" Professor McGonagall shouted outraged from an adjoining corridor "What on earth are you talking about!"

Ron sped up quickly to the witch "Professor! He's dead! Snape's dead! I was just down in the potions classroom and he's lying there dead!" he exclaimed hysterically. Ron's legs finally gave and he collapsed into a pile, pulling McGonagall down with him.

"I wanted to kill him for what he done to Hermione" he babbled in hysterics "He was dead, Professor! I didn't kill him! He is dead! He is dead! Snape is dead!"

McGonagall's face had turned ashen and her eyes bugged out slightly. She pulled Ron to his feet with great strength and walked to the infirmary in silence.

* * *

"Poppy!" she shouted, pushing the door open with her free hand. "Get Albus!"

"I am here" Dumbledore and Harry stood together. Madam Pomfrey rushed from the ward and gave a gasp of horror. "What has happened?"

"Weasley was at the dungeons and is saying that Snape is dead!" She gratefully gave Ron to Harry "Albus come quickly!"

"Give him a Calming Concoction" Dumbledore gestured to Ron "Stay here and look after the children, Poppy; I'll take care of Severus"

Dumbledore and McGonagall sped quickly down the corridor and Pomfrey quickly called the other teachers with the emergency network, Harry heard her bark orders for the houses to be locked down.

Ron was levitated to a free bed and given a vial of purple potion. He gratefully drunk the potion and his hands stopped shaking.

Harry lifted the piece of parchment Ron was clutching and set it on the table beside his bed.

"Harry give that to Dumbledore!" Ron exclaimed "Its Snape's! I found it beside him but it's written in a strange language."

Harry glanced down at the parchment and agreed that it was a strange language.

**DUMBLEDORE-**

**ZCHGCEWC**

**TBCHTSB**

**KQYPSXQBG**

**EHCVS**

**EQBBL**

**- SS**

Obviously it was a code written by Dumbledore and Snape to stop their messages being read. Harry squinted at the message and gave up. He took the parchment to Hermione's chamber and poked his head through the curtains.

"She's still sleeping" he whispered to Ron once he had returned "I was going to see if she could translate this for us"

"Take it to Dumbledore" Ron answered sagely "The Dumbledore bit is the only thing I understand"

"Suppose" Harry shoved the parchment into his pocket "I'll be back in a minute, Ron"

"Hurry up" Ron looked toward the curtained area of Hermione "Something strange is going on"

Harry nodded and sped from the infirmary.

* * *

A/N: Finally finished all exams and I've rid myself of the flu so I'm back to finishing off these stories. I have written chapter 10 but I don't like the way it's turned out so I'm going to work on fixing that today. Chapter 9 was meant to be a little filler chapter but I really needed to tie-up some ends so it became much longer. This story should be finished completely by Sunday night or Monday evening at the latest. Just chapter 10 and the epilogue to sort out and then I'll do the rest of WDMC:) Thanks for reading this and if you have any comments I will be thrilled to hear them! 


	10. Here comes the Sun

Here comes the Sun

Chapter 10

"_What is it really  
That's going on here  
You've got your system for total control  
Now is there anybody out there  
Now watch us suffer cause we can't go  
What is it really that is in your head  
What little life that you had just died  
I'm gonna be the one that's takin over  
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide"_

_Powerman 5000 "When World's Collide"_

"Harry?" A quiet murmuring from the bed in front of him. Harry lifted his head to meet the quizzical smile of Hermione. "What happened?"

"Ron found Snape in the classroom dead, Ron was in here for a while but Madam Pomfrey sent him somewhere" Hermione gasped in horror "Dumbledore is trying to translate a message Snape gave to him before he died"

"Oh Harry!" Hermione exclaimed "What happened to Snape?"

"Dumbledore doesn't know" Harry bowed his head slightly "He knows that Snape was poisoned but he doesn't know if he did it to himself or something else done it"

"But he had time to write a message!" Hermione gestured wildly "He probably did it to himself! Did you see the message, Harry? What did it look like?"

"Typical Snape" he answered bitterly "Confusing and vulgar, I suppose. It was in a strange code, Hermione. That's why Dumbledore is in his office trying to crack it"

"I would have thought Dumbledore would have known any code of Snape's" Hermione looked curiously up at her friend "Why bother writing it in a code if you know it cannot be broken?"

Her eyes narrowed with contempt and understanding "So Harry, what did the code say and why don't you want me to know?"

Harry grimly pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Hermione.

**Dumbledore-**

**Fantasia**

**Granger**

**Voldemort**

**Snake!**

**Sorry!**

**SS**

She read the letter twice and then looked up at Harry. He stared deep into her eyes and she could feel magic radiating from him.

"Harry, what does this mean?" she scowled "Why is my name there?"

"I'm curious about that too" he replied casually "Any ideas?"

"He could be apologising for hurting me" she said blandly "He must have poisoned himself then"

"What about Fantasia, Voldemort and Snake?" Harry's eyes were blank "Have you heard of Fantasia potion?"

"I'm not sure" Her brow crinkled with mock thought "I don't think so, Harry"

"Then could you explain why you were brewing it?" His voice dropped coolly

"What do you mean by that, Harry?" Her voice took a honeyed texture to it. Harry repressed a shudder at the memory of the last woman to use a voice like that. "I would never do anything illegal"

"Do not lie to me, Hermione" Harry shouted, grabbing her by the wrist. "Have you been in contact with Voldemort?"

"Harry, let go" she tried to pull her arm away but couldn't break Harry's grip "You're hurting me"

"Answer the question Hermione!" he roared jerking her arm down "You always like to answer questions so answer this one! Have you or have you not been in contact with Voldemort?"

An eerie silence covered the room. Hermione stopped struggling against Harry's grip and brought her hand limply by her side. Her eyes were blank and expressionless as she stared intently into Harry's own. She titled her head slightly and a small, fanatical smile played around her pale lips.

"Yes Harry I have been" she said simply, grinning wildly "The Dark Lord and I are going to rule the wizarding world once Hogwarts falls to the ground. I will be rewarded for my devotion and I shall dance in the blood as it pours from your heart. I will laugh as my Lord hacks your body to pieces, destroys all you have loved and rises to be the greatest wizard to have lived." As she spoke a red blush appeared on her cheeks, grinning she continued "The angels will not protect you any longer, Harry. The serpents will no longer fear you, Harry. From your death a new Order will arise, more powerful than any could imagine. I will stand, proud and strong, beside my Master and together we will become victorious."

Harry watched in horror as Hermione became more and more animated with her speech. Her cheeks were flushed and she had been gesturing violently with a gleam of desire bubbling in her wide eyes.

"It will be fantastic, Harry" she continued, her eyes unfocused "Too bad you will not be around to see it. It really will be a spectacular sight"

"It will never happen" Harry snapped coldly "As long as people live there will always be opposition to whatever your so called Master has planned for the world. Evil will never triumph over good"

"The world is not divided into good and evil, Harry, there is only power and those too weak to seek it"

Harry stared at her in shock. When she had spoken the words Lord Voldemort had said in his first year, a shiver of fear had went down his spine. Her eyes remained blank and unfocused.

"I can't believe you just said that!" he exclaimed when the shock had finally worn off "How is he controlling you, Granger?"

"He's not controlling me, Harry" she smiled pleasantly and spoke in a way one would talk about a spot of good weather or a fluffy Labrador puppy "This is all me. Is it so unbelievable to think that I could seek the sort of power that My Master offers me?"

"HOW IS HE CONTROLLING YOU?" Harry roared and threw a vase to the floor in his anger "CUT THE CRAP HERMIONE! I KNOW THIS ISN'T TRUE!"

"Poor Harry Potter. Poor, poor Harry." She smiled blankly "I have always tried to achieve the best that I could achieve. I have always strived for perfection. I love to learn and what is more exciting than learning how to pull the skin off your enemy while he still lives and screams? Is it so difficult to believe now, little Harry? Is it so hard to believe that I want power as much as you do? Are you denying that you do not want power Harry? Don't you want to dance in the blood of your enemies as much as I? Don't you want to overthrow the evil as much as I? We're not so different after all Harry."

Another shiver as he placed the words he had heard before.

"The only difference between us is that I do not use hatred and violence to achieve my aims, Granger. I am also not crazy and being controlled by a psychopathic megalomaniac" He smiled sardonically.

"Do you not hate my Master, Harry? Do you not hate his loyal servants? Do you not hate me? You hate as much as I do, only you hate for a different side. Are you not the pawn of Dumbledore? Where is your brave and virtuous Master now, Harry? Hiding in his office from a little girl whilst he sends you to do the dirty work alone. You are as crazy as I am."

Before Harry could dispute her claims, the door of the Infirmary burst open and Albus Dumbledore strode in purposefully. He was quickly followed by a livid Ron.

"How could you betray us Hermione!" Ron screamed and ran over to the bed she was sitting on "HOW COULD YOU? You were our friend!"

"Enough, Mr Weasley" Dumbledore waved a hand of dismissal at Ron. His electric blue eyes passed over Hermione and landed on Harry. "Has she said anything?"

McGonagall ran into the Infirmary moments after and informed Dumbledore that the Aurors from the Ministry had arrived and that the wards had been reinstated. Dumbledore nodded and returned his gaze to Harry.

"Just some utter fanatical crap I'm sure that most Death Eaters would laugh themselves silly over. She did betray us. She is a Death Eater. She isn't being controlled" Harry looked blankly over at her "She's nothing to us."

"Actually, technically I am not a Death Eater" Hermione grinned wildly "Although, I'd guess that they probably are"

"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" A male voice from the door of the hospital wing caused everyone to turn. Walden McNair stood twirling a gleaming axe in his hands "And to think, last time I was at Hogwarts it was to kill a beast. Now I have so many beasts to kill and there is no chance of escape"

More Death Eaters pilled into the castle, taking advantage of the wards being down to allow their specially trained "Aurors" to enter. The Death Eaters inside let down the wards and more black figures flooded the ancient castle. The striking silhouettes of giant beasts and eerily floating monsters added to the Dark force. It would be a massacre of biblical proportions. This is the final battle and the powerful could only triumph over the weak.

Hermione Granger laughed and grinned wildly at the prospect.

* * *

A/N: I wasn't going to complete this story because I had ran out of ideas and I didn't enjoy writing in this particular style. I then realised that if anyone had started reading this story they would be interested to see how it ended. I know how annoying it is to see people never finish anything on so I am going to finish this entire story today since my coffee/boredom ratio is in perfect coalition. So by tomorrow morning this story will have finished completely. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, it really means a lot to me to see people reviewing. Oh, Hermione is 17 in this story which is the age of consent in Northern Ireland and the age of consent in England is 16, so I'm not doing anything illegal or wrong... well sort of not wrong! Thank you again! 


	11. Nessun Dorma

Chapter 11

_Nessun Dorma_

_But my secret is hidden within me;  
My name no one shall know, no, no,  
On your mouth I will speak it  
When the light shines,  
And my kiss will dissolve the silence _

_That makes you mine._

_Translation "Nessum Dorma"_

Molly Weasley was thoroughly enjoying her day so far. Her washing had come out of the wash spectacularly clean, she repaired a few vases she had been meaning to repair since Fred and George had broken them over the summer and her garden was looking thoroughly gnome-free with the newly developed gnome-repellent. Yes, Molly Weasley was having a fantastic day.

The twins had popped in earlier and snuck off with breakfast. Bill and Charlie, who had moved back to England to be closer to the family, were still sleeping at a ridiculous time of 1:00 pm. She couldn't blame them, though, as they were spending their nights patrolling for signs of Death Eaters and Voldemort.

When Arthur had arrived home at five pm she had kissed him and prepared his dinner, as she has done every night for the past twenty-five years. Her eldest children were slightly intoxicated and exceptionally jovial at the dinner table. Finally, Molly Weasley felt she could really enjoy her night with her family with the exception of her two youngest and her estranged middle child.

As Molly rocked contently in her rocking chair, to end her ordinary day, something unsuspected caught her eye.

Two hands of her famous clock were spinning from "school" to "moral peril"

* * *

Since the tragic demise of it's owner, Grimmauld Place had remained the headquarters of the esteemed Order of the Phoenix. Members would come and go at regular intervals but the only permanent inhabitant of the house was a werewolf without a pack.

Remus was lonely and he didn't like to admit it. His only true friend had been snatched from his grip, not once, but twice in a lifetime. The first time he was sent to a place that could be comparable to hell, the second time he had been sent to heaven. Remus was sure, above all things, Sirius would be somewhere happy and somewhere he was going to reap the benefits that he had deserved.

Remus resented Sirius for leaving him after such a short time they had spent together. He hated Bellatrix with a feral desire to rip the spleen from her body that he attributed to the inner animal yet knew that the man would be cheering alongside the beast.

Today he would continue the monotonous task of keeping an eye-out on the headquarters whilst keeping the stranglers company. Tonks would most certainly be sitting around the table, munching on some left-over toast and scanning the Daily Prophet before being reminded she has to be somewhere else, namely work.

Remus was extremely bored. He almost wished that Voldemort's forces would start to become more active because it would have made him have some use. Right now, staring at the same blank wall he had stared at for the last few months, Remus felt drained of all ability to care. The Aurors, Shackbolt and Tonks were playing a quiet game of cards, Mad-Eye Moody was reading a book and Mundungus Fletcher was breaking into the collection of wine that had been stored in a cool cupboard.

At 10:00 pm, Remus dragged himself down the stairs and into the living-room. He greeted the people with nothing more than a polite "hello" before walking into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

He walked back into the living-room and attempted some strangled conversation with Mad-Eye Moody. Today was an ordinary day in the life of Remus Lupin.

This, however, changed with the arrival of a very hysterical phoenix.

* * *

The reports from the Aurors had come in thick and fast. Hogwarts had been attacked by Death Eaters, Dumbledore was dead, McGonagall was critically wounded, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were missing and many students were being brutally attacked by both wizard and non-wizard creatures.

Amelia Bones called an emergency meeting once she had heard the news from the Aurors positioned at the Battlefield. The War Security Council met in an unplotable bunker that the location was only known to a few select authorities in the Ministry. This was the moment they had all been waiting for since the appointment of Madam Bones as Minister of Magic two years before. The plans had been drawn out in exceptional detail yet no-one had devised a way of breaking down the wards of Hogwarts, which had been reinstated as soon as Voldemort's forces had ploughed their way into the castle.

Everyone sat calmly around the mahogany table in the room with the dark blue walls, lit by only the few candles which had been salvaged from the forgotten storage room two floors down. It was the beginning of the long haul in the battle which they had been planning for. The enemy had the area surrounded and now it was the Ministry's responsibility to fight back for the Wizarding world.

All at the table had suffered loss at the hands of the brutal enemy, whether it had been limbs, family, friends or their country, each man and woman sitting around the mahogany table in the blue room had felt the sharp sting of the foes vengeance and each person knew that this was their chance to fight back at an enemy that had troubled them for such a long time.

"Ladies and gentlemen" murmured a voice, betraying fear within the strength of a leader. "It has been a long battle and I will not attempt to deceive you buy telling you we can win it. Each one of us has been scarred both physically and mentally and now I ask one more burst of strength to push back the enemy forces." Blue eyes darted to the eyes of every person sat on the mahogany table in the blue room. "I know that it might be too much to ask but are you with me as we draw to the closing hours of our long fight? If you cant, or don't want to continue the struggle then I will be happy to sign your release papers and you can go and find whatever remains of your previous lives. I, for one, will continue to fight whether I have to do it alone or not"

One by one, the fifteen at the mahogany table in the blue room walked to the front and clasped the weary leader's hand, signalling their agreement with the sentiments expressed.

"Very well" a relieved tone from the front "It is unanimous that we will continue to fight against a merciless enemy for not only ourselves, but for the land which we love the most"

The leader paced the front of the room. They exchanged weak smiles; their leader had a habit of cultivating nervous habits.

"Do you have any idea how we are going to do this?"

The leader directed the question to a man sitting directly in front of the head chair at the table. He gave a delicate cough and stood, addressing the council.

"No we have no idea" he closed his eyes, willing away the shame of his answer "I'm sorry, we've tried so hard to come up with a good plan but we cannot see one"

"It is fine Nicholas" the leader reassured him "No-one can come up with anything better"

The young man sat down.

"What we need is a plan to break through the wards. We need to get a message to someone so they can disable the wards to allow our men to enter and offer help before something awful happens."

There was a flurry of excitement from outside the secured area. A raised voice was demanding to speak to the Minister of Magic as it was urgent and from Hogwarts. Amelia Bones rose from her seat at the front of the room and walked out to greet the man.

His face was flushed and the sweat was pouring down his back. He had ran from the reception of the Ministry until the very top at the Ministers office. He could barely stand with exhaustion but he had to get his message to the Minister or die trying.

He saw her emerge from the disguised broom closet and he collapsed in relief. She strode over to him quickly and looked him square in the face. He whispered something quietly into her ear and she walked back into the room with her War Council.

Her face had been stained with tears when she finally arrived back in the room. She stood at the front, as she had done moments before, and addressed the entire room. Her hands were shaking, not with fear, but with anger.

"Hogwarts has fallen. The entire school has been blown up by something. Everyone inside is reportedly dead. They are coming this way"

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy had known about the attack on Hogwarts, not from the people running on the streets, but from her husband. He had told her not to worry about him and assured her that he would get their son, Draco, from the castle before it was destroyed.

Narcissa had heard the Dark Lord had personally perfected something akin to the muggle Atomic Bomb. It had the ability to destroy great amounts of area without much effort. It was a beautiful, destructive angel that Lucius cooed over more than he had cooed over his baby son.

Narcissa may have been a wife and a witch but above all things, Narcissa was a mother. She was a woman who loved her son more than anything and she was a woman who would rather die herself than see hurt come to her son. It may not have fitted in with the stereotypical view of a "trophy wife" but Narcissa was anything but stereotypical.

When her husband had kissed her gently on the cheek before he left, he had made her promise not to interfere with anything that could get her killed. So, when she heard the rumour that Hogwarts had fallen and that everyone was dead, she did the only thing a perfect mother could have done. She apparated directly to the castle.

The rumours had been correct. Hogwarts lay before her in ruin. The towers had fallen to dust at her feet. The stone rubble and debris lay around her like a chilling mock-up of an ocean. She stepped over something that could only have fallen from Dumbledore's office and over another mound of rubble she could see the scarlet and gold remains of Gryffindor tower.

The bloodied corpses of students lay sprawled out across the ground beside the bodies of the teachers who fell to protect them. All students, from first to seventh year lay on the remains of Hogwarts like a grotesque act of loyalty. Finally, with the destruction of Hogwarts, the school stood united in it's utter destruction. Students of green and silver, lay beside students of red and gold. The bullies and the bullied lay silent together as in death they became equal. If Narcissa wanted to, she could dream of them as friends in another lifetime. She could imagine them fighting side-by-side against the forces of darkness. She could imagine peace and unity in Hogwarts.

Not only students but the brave teachers lay still on the ground. Flitwick and Sprout were beside each other, with their wands still held in the final grip of death. Trelawney and Sinstra finally came from their towers and stood on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with the sixth-year students that lay near-by. The black hoods could only be the Death Eaters who could not escape their death. The other Death Eaters would be closing in on the Ministry to elect their own leader as Minister as the survivors walked through the remains.

Narcissa was not the only person seeing the destruction. She could see a flock of red-hair that could only be the remaining Weasleys searching for a glimmer of hope. Narcissa did not have the heart to tell them she had seen their daughter's lifeless body in the group of students beside the dead Death Eaters.

She could recognise some people who could only have been the elusive Order of the Phoenix. Remus Lupin was digging through the rubble like an animal, searching for the body of his fallen Dumbledore or Harry Potter. Some of the Ministry Aurors were there too, finally able to pass through the wards that had been re-erected. They were too late, everyone had been too late to save Hogwarts. The planning didn't matter, the battle didn't matter and the deaths don't matter. War has been declared on the Wizarding world and all they could do was fall to the ground and die like lambs to the slaughter.

Blitzkrieg. Lightning War. Narcissa was not unfamiliar to these concepts because she had an unhealthy interest in muggle history. She had seen the pictures of war before yet this was her first time in the middle of a battlefield. She almost wondered how they'd report this in history, depending on the victors.

She walked through the rubble and debris like a small child walking through a park for the first time. Watching the remains of the school she could only imagine the amount of destruction the Dark forces were enforcing on the rest of the wizarding world.

With his armies of 100,000 strong, Voldemort had managed to incorporate the magic of wizards, the strength of trolls and the power of the Dementors to create his killing force. Wizards, beasts and other creatures flocked to him for their own place in the new world order and he was not one to disappoint.

As of yet, Narcissa hadn't seen sign of her son or her husband. This could only mean that they had managed to get out of the castle before the bomb had been dropped. She dreaded to think what had happened to her sister.

Tonight, Narcissa Malfoy would return to her home and await further commands from her husband. She would discover her son curled up in the middle of his bedroom, safe but a coward. Narcissa Malfoy knew what the Dark Lord planned to do with young Harry Potter and she knew all about Miss Granger's intervention. Tonight would be the last night of the Wizarding world as they know it because out of the ashes of Hogwarts and out of the bodies of it's enemies, the new wizarding world shall arise like a phoenix from the flames.

Narcissa shivered at the prospect.


	12. Hurt

My Heart Burns

A/N: sheepish Hey guys! I am back with the concluding chapter of My Heart Burns. I am so sorry, really, really, sorry that it has taken such a long time to complete. Real life has just that funny habit of killing all you love. So here we have it, final chapter except for the epilogue which I will actually try and finish tonight. I am almost off school (sometime this week!) for Study Leave which gives me a lot more free time between revising for exams so I should actually get round to finishing my other unfinished baby, Perceptual Distortions. I am so incredibly sorry! Please, accept the completely depressing chapter as your reward for your patience. I LOVE YOU!

Chapter 12: Hurt

"_What have I become?  
My sweetest friend  
Everyone I know  
Goes away in the end  
And you could have it all  
My empire of dirt _

I will let you down  
I will make you hurt"

_- Hurt_

A flash of lightening scorched the sky. The rain poured from the heavens as the thick, black clouds encircled the ruin where the silhouetted figures moved confidently. A clap of thunder reverberated throughout the air causing whoops of joy from the figures only properly visible when another bolt of lightening caused the sky to bleed.

Another crack of lightening revealed the figure of a young male whose head drooped lifelessly in the dance of the unconscious. The louder, nearer, whip of thunder caused his eyes to open with a start, the rain beating mercilessly down on his exposed head

"Ah, look." A smooth voice rose higher than the noise of the tempest. "Our guest has finally decided to join us."

A titter of laughter met this proclamation, the boy closed his eyes and let out a loud, feral moan. The laughter abruptly turned into hissing as the group of masked figures stepped towards the lankly hanging Harry.

One of them grabbed Harry by the hair and pushed his head forcibly back onto the stone he was tied to with an audible crack that caused another round of gleeful cheering from the followers.

"Oh, Harry, it is so nice of you to join us on this cold, cold night." Lord Voldemort gracefully stepped towards Harry. Harry defiantly opened his eyes, meeting the scarlet slits with his burning green orbs, framed behind cracked glasses. Pure, unadulterated hatred was exchanged within a single, everlasting stare. "Harry, Harry, do look around you instead of looking longingly into my eyes, boy. Do you see where you are, baby Harry?"

Harry tore his eyes from Voldemort and furiously glanced around him. It was a ruin, dimly lit by floating skull-shaped candles. On either side of the ruin were Muggle houses with their windows brightly coloured and the almost inaudible sound of the late news could be heard. The ruin, it seemed, could only be magical to be hidden in such a typical Muggle neighbourhood. It could have been a building judging by the lack of decoration in the blasted bricks. It was quite recently destroyed, in the last twenty years Harry guessed.

"Do you remember, Harry? It was not a lifetime ago, although it may seem it, when you were pulled from the new rubble and taken with the recently deceased Hagrid to live your life with your mother's sisters, your Aunt Petunia."

Harry knew it deep within but it took the confirmation of Lord Voldemort for the reality to sink in. An eerie feeling of deja vu took over as the long buried memory of a childhood barely remembered came to the surface. Although nothing physically remained of the happy home Harry had, could of continued to have without the intervention of Voldemort, there was something in the atmosphere that spoke to Harry deeply, after all, a home is more than bricks, cement and a newly tiled kitchen.

"Godric's Hollow" Harry breathed slowly, eyes darting through the darkness with another piercing shock of lightening. The figures collectively moved almost closer toward him causing him to take an audible breath of claustrophobic intensity. He wanted to run, _he needed to run, _a rush of panic, the wave of flight adrenaline, pumped mercilessly through his tortured muscles. His body was shattered, he could feel his leg had been broken somehow in the journey and he could feel the familiar coldness of blood congealing above his right eye. A warmness called to Harry, singing to him from the wound on his head, telling him to close his eyes and drift into the incomprehensible rhythm of his thumping heart.

"Harry, Harry, do pay attention." Lord Voldemort sounded amused as he watched Harry sway side to side with the rain continuing to pelt mercilessly down onto the group. Harry opened his eyes wearily. "Ah, how nice. Now, Harry, I'm afraid to tell you that tonight you will die, please do keep awake, Harry. I want to hear you scream. I want to smell the stench of fear from you. I want to fix a mistake I carelessly made so long ago. Why do you think I brought you here? Poetic justice, a beautiful and tragic thing, Harry, you should remember that."

"Hermione"

"What was that Harry?" Lord Voldemort was more than amused as he took another step toward the weary man.

"Hermione, Hermione" Harry choked out. Harry closed his eyes once more before drawing strength from somewhere. "Hermione. HERMIONE!"

"Hermione, Hermione" A high voice mocked from the group of masked followers. A deadly smile peered out from the crowd as the heavy-lidded eyes glittered manically. "Oh where, oh where, is dear Hermione?"

"Hermione, come and say hello to Harry." Voldemort spun quickly and beckoned to a figure in the group. Hermione pulled the mask from her face and put it neatly onto the ground.

"Hello Harry!" Hermione was almost cheerful, sickly sweet in her greeting. She could have been about to add '_Shall we go down to Hagrid's after dinner?' _or '_Oh, Harry, haven't you done your potions homework? Professor Snape will give you detention, again!' _but her eyes were blank and the smile was plastered expertly on her perfectly Hermione-masked face. "I'm so glad you could join us. What a fun night we will have, Harry."

"Is she not the most wonderful human being, Harry? Does she not cause you to stare at those beautiful brown eyes? And that brain, Harry, what a resource you neglected. But, fear not, I will never abandon her like you have done. I can see what a perfect gift you have been given. I will use her, I will care for her. I will never leave her to the fate you so willingly gave to her. A friendship with a boy who causes all around him to drop dead. What else could you have given this sweet, fantastic girl? Death, Harry."

"Stop."

"Tell him you forgive him for killing you, Hermione."

"I forgive you, Harry."

"Tell him you forgive him for killing the lovely Weasley family, Hermione."

"I pardon you, Harry."

"Stop."

"And your family, Hermione, your fantastic Hogwarts friends and teachers, tell him you absolve him for their death"

"They had to die, Harry."

"Stop." Harry breathed. "Stop it."

"Tell Harry you love him, Hermione."

"I love you, Harry."

"Stop, please."

"Tell him how you love me, Hermione."

"I love him, Harry. I love him more than anything. He will protect me, he will give me life instead of death. Aren't you happy for me, Harry?"

"Hermione, stop. You don't mean it."

"Say goodbye to Harry, Hermione."

"Goodbye, Harry."

A tremulous bang of a thunder not so far away was drown out by the noise coming from the boy, the _man, _brutally attached in the rubble of a home what could have been centauries ago. Long, sinuous ropes had snapped quickly around every appendage on his body so tight that a trickle of blood burnt into his skin. Lord Voldemort had sharply flicked his wand and the ropes shot off into opposite directions, causing Harry's body to convulse and become stretched with the ropes cutting deeply into his skin. Harry was screaming, the simple force of the ropes was too much. He was literally being pulled apart, limb by limb.

"_For neither can live if the other survives" _Lord Voldemort sang quietly over the screaming from his enemy. "Hermione is a wealth of knowledge. She devised your death, you know. In our late night correspondence she told me everything she knew about you, about the prophecy and how it could be possibly fulfilled. A willing traitor, Harry."

Harry could no longer hear the words of Voldemort as the ropes intertwined over his chest causing him to choke as he tried to race for breath, for _life. _His eyes began to close as the oppressive force of the ropes constricted around his body.

"This way, I can easily kill you. There is no chance of you reflecting my curse upon me, as you have done once before. You cannot use your voice to cast any desperate spells. There is no-one left to die for you. You have no-one, Harry, you have nothing left to live for." Lord Voldemort took an almost curious step towards Harry and put a thin, snake-like hand upon his shoulder. It was quite a reassuring, grandfatherly gesture. Voldemort's voice dropped into a hiss that Harry could barely hear in a language Harry faintly knew was Parsletongue "A fitting death, _constriction, _do you not see the beautiful, poetic irony in that? The so-called 'boy who lived', the boy who eluded me for such a long time, brought down with a death constructed by his childhood friend. Fear not, little Harry. I will do what you could not; I will ensure the survival of Hermione Granger. You have my word."

Harry snapped his eyes open quickly, desperately trying for one last glance, one last surge of magical power. His emerald green eyes, their spark fading fast, met the burning scarlet eyes of Lord Voldemort and, for one moment in time, the man and the beast who had spent their lives as rivals, as enemies, passed an unsaid message between them.

_Hermione will be safe._

* * *

"_HARRY!" Hermione screamed inhumanely, trapped in her internal hell. She could see what was happening, she could feel her mouth form the words Voldemort commanded, but she was completely and utterly helpless to stop it. The image of Tom watched with a slight smirk as she ran frantically from one side to the other, screaming and trying to physically break her way out of her mind. "HARRY!"_

"_Oh, Hermione, surely you can see that it is over. All over." Tom purred absentmindedly, arching an amused eyebrow at the hysterical woman. She was crying hard and had began to vomit. "Utterly disgusting, Hermione."_

"_LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Hermione pulled herself from the ground and launched at Tom, punching him, kicking him and basically trying to hurt him in any way possible. He barely flinched as she drew her strength and through her entire body weight behind a punch. "I HAVE TO HELP HARRY! HARRY!"_

"_Nothing you do will help him. You are trapped here. You can't even hurt me, you are so pathetic, Hermione. Is he really worth disgracing yourself in such a despicable way?"_

"_Yes."_

"_It is over, Hermione. Watch your show" Tom sounded almost bored as he threw a dismissive hand to Hermione. She numbly climbed toward the part of her prison where she could perfectly see the ropes come up and tighten around Harry._

_It seemed to come naturally. He could almost have been sleeping if it wasn't for the ropes laced delicately around his thin frame, tightening and pulling him apart, like a giant snake coiled mercilessly around a winter mouse. The world did not fall apart when his head fell slowly to one side, the sky did not suddenly lighten, the sounds of mourning could not be immediately heard. Who would mourn him, in any case? Everyone has passed. It seemed like a perfectly natural part of the day to see him dangle lankly with the ropes simply supporting his lifeless body like a broken marionette. Hermione could feel nothing but the numbness she had felt proceeding to her outburst and following it. Nothing mattered now, the cold realisation permeated her unwilling spirit and Hermione slumped neatly to the ground in a mocking representation of the boy she could see. _

_The masked figures gave a cheer of sickening glee as Hermione could only blankly stare ahead of her as perfectly as her prison had managed. Lord Voldemort flicked his wand once more and the ropes disappeared. _

_It didn't matter to Hermione. Harry was dead, Hogwarts had fallen to the ground. Everyone and everything that had ever mattered to Hermione was nothing. She was nothing. _

* * *

"Tonight we will take our revenge. We have risen so quickly from the flames like the phoenix who powers my wand and tonight we will take what is rightfully ours. The world will become ours and there is no-one left to oppose us. Not even dear Hermione Granger."

Hermione blinked, confusion written clearly over her face. Her perspective had changed, somehow, everyone seemed much taller than they had five minutes ago.

"Tom, why has everything changed? What is he planning now?"

"Hermione. Welcome back." Lord Voldemort bowed gently. Hermione's eyes widened in realisation. She was free. Completely and utterly free from the prison of her mind.

What did it matter?

The spark had died in Hermione's eyes. The lifelessness was imminent. She had died with Harry and, seemingly, every other person she had once cared about.

"Come Hermione."

Hermione blankly allowed herself to be led wherever the slim hand desired.


End file.
